MASTERS OF CEREMONIIES – Program host Rob Sennott and honoree Alice George listen as county historian Lou Cataldo speaks during Sunday’s ceremony honoring his and George’s service to the Mercy Otis Warren Woman of the Year award.

Mercy Otis Warren leaders honored

Thank yous were handed out all around Sunday afternoon, even by the two honorees at an appreciation reception for their roles in the commemoration of Barnstable’s own Revolutionary War patriot, Mercy Otis Warren.

Louis Cataldo and Alice George were honored at the program in a lovely garden reception at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Barnstable Village for their roles in getting the patriot’s statue erected on the Barnstable Superior Courthouse lawn in 2001 and in establishing the Mercy Otis Warren Cape Cod Woman of the Year Award in 2002.The two worked together to commission and fund the statue and develop the award for Cape Cod women.

Cataldo. 92, was emcee for every Woman of the Year ceremony and George, 70, chaired the award selection committee for 10 years. Both retired from those positions this year.

After reading the official Congressional citation from U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, his aide, Stefanie Coxe, added a personal note: “What strikes me is you have stayed in the background…but recognized something that needed to be done, like Mercy (did).”

In another citation, Barnstable County Commissioner Bill Doherty listed George’s other contributions in several civic and charitable organizations, as a special needs teacher in Yarmouth and as an accomplished tennis player and golfer. She also worked with Cataldo to get the John F. Kennedy statue at the JFK Hyannis Museum.

Town Councilor Ann Canedy, who introduced George, described her as “quiet, diplomatic and unassuming, and the unsung doer in my life and in Yarmouth and Barnstable.”

In accepting the appreciations, George said, “I am grateful to have this opportunity with Lou. I was put in the company of a man who has had great awareness of the past.” She also recognized the first awards selection committee chairwoman, Anneli Karniala in the audience, and said, “The future of the award is now in the capable hands of Judith Walden Scrafile,” the new committee chairwoman, who was introduced.

Reading the county commissioners’ citation, Commissioner Sheila Lyons related Cataldo’s many efforts toward preserving Cape Cod history over six decades through the Tales of Cape Cod oral history program he founded in 1949, the Iyannough burial site in Cummaquid, the Old Customs House in Barnstable Village as well as the James Otis and Mercy Otis Warren statutes.

Master of ceremonies Rob Sennott also added a personal note on Cataldo from his associations with him as former Barnstable Patriot publisher. He called Cataldo “a tireless man for whom ‘no’ is not an option.”

Cataldo thanked all those involved in the Mercy Otis Warren and other Cape historical preservation efforts, in particular his ‘righthand woman,” co-archivist Tess Korkuch.

“There are a lot of historical events,” he said, “and if we forget them, we forget all those before.”

State Rep. Brian Mannal, representing Barnstable’s legislative delegation, called the 12 Woman of the Year honorees “the movers and shakers of Cape Cod” and “a group you wouldn’t want to mess with.” Eight of the award winners were present and introduced Sunday.

A bronze statuette sculpted by David Lewis in the likeness of Mercy Otis Warren is given every year to a Cape Cod woman who has demonstrated leadership in the community and has made a significant contribution to the arts, education, business or community involvement, while embracing the ideals of patriotism.